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Infection Prevalence In A Novel Ixodes Scapularis Population In Northern Wisconsin, Mary Lynn Westwood

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Ixodes scapularis (i.e. the blacklegged or deer tick) is an important vector of emerging human pathogens. Over the past few decades, the incidence of blacklegged tick-associated zoonotic diseases have increased in accordance with an expansion of the blacklegged tick geographic range. Data concerning the infection prevalence of blacklegged ticks in this region is highly variable and fragmentary. Using a novel population of these ticks, constituting part of the invasion front in Vilas County, Wisconsin, I examined infection prevalence and vector aspects of their ecology. During the summer of 2016, I collected 461 blacklegged ticks and screened them using a standard …